BetterOhio makes defiant retreat as it pulls Grannygate ad

After spending two news cycles saying that there was no way Building a Better Ohio would pull the Grannygate ad, campaign spokeman Jason Mauk announces that they have… pulled the Grannygate ad. (Yet another lie?)

As a result, Building a Better Ohio, the Republican group pushing to pass Issue 2, has decided to replace the ad, at least for now, with one of its previous spots while negotiations with stations continue.

The decision was made so the campaign can stay on the air, said Jason Mauk, spokesman for Building a Better Ohio, adding, “We absolutely stand by the ad.”

Mauk also continues to maintain that not as many stations have pulled the ad as We Are Ohio has claimed, but then again, he’s been disputing the number without providing any evidence all along. He’s denied just about every station has pulled the ad, only to admit that the campaign was forced to pull the ad itself or risk not being on the air for an extended period of time in the final four weeks of the campaign. Plenty of campaigns stand by their ad as they pulled them. Josh Mandel said the same thing about the race-baiting, Islamophobic stoking smear ad he ran against State Treasurer Kevin Boyce (except Mandel didn’t really pull the ad as he instead let it run through its full scheduled rotation.)

What’s even worse, Better Ohio is trying to fundraise off the ad in a delusional, Iraqi Information Minister sounding pitch about how effective the ad was and how the First Amendment is at stake. When We Are Ohio announced 12 stations, Mauk said it was no more than six. When it was twenty, he claimed ten. Today, when We Are Ohio says thirty (many of the stations have independently confirmed with us and others), he claims it’s only 15.

Again, the First Amendment is not a license to lie. It never has been. I’m a lawyer, Mauk is an overpaid political hack with a history of a disturbing allergic reaction to the truth. Don’t believe me?

If stations continue to not air the ad, Mauk said his group will fight that decision, arguing that stations are required by federal law to provide access to public airwaves. “This is a First Amendment, free-speech right.”

Tom Griesdorn, president and general manager of WBNS Channel 10, said that isn’t true.

“We have the right to deny any advertiser,” he said. “This is a for-profit institution.”

Griesdorn said the station’s legal counsel advised him that, given the legal questions surrounding copyright issues and other allegations, it’s best to pull the ad for now until the two sides fight it out in court.

They’re raising money off of intentionally misappropriating a great-grandmother who would appear publicly to fight this except she’s at her Baptist church camp. These are the people who we’d have to trust to be honest and fair managers who won’t abuse the one-sided anti-union power granted to them if Issue 2 passes. Same folks who are fundraising over lying about a great-grandmother are the people who would have the power under Issue 2 to screw labor.

At this point, that’s all anyone needs to know about why you should vote against Issue 2.

God damn John Kasich and his BBO stooges! It’s bad enough that they pirated the video image of a 78-year-old great-grandmother and edited her words to make it seem as if she supports Issue 2 rather opposing it publicly. Noooooooo, they go on to characterize their opposition as “squealing” and “afraid of (BBO) communicating the facts to Ohio voters.” Jason Mauk and the rest of the BBO hacks are morally bankrupt.

And I believe that any one who votes for Issue 2 after the blatant and frequent deceit and lies of BBO and King Johnnie Kasick are equally morally bankrupt.

Anonymous

Seems like it against Ohio law too:
3517.22 Infiltration of campaign – false statements in campaign materials – issues.(A) No person during the course of any campaign in advocacy of or in opposition to the adoption of any proposition or issue submitted to the voters shall knowingly and with intent to affect the outcome of such campaign do any of the following:(B) No person, during the course of any campaign in advocacy of or in opposition to the adoption of any ballot proposition or issue, by means of campaign material, including sample ballots, an advertisement on radio or television or in a newspaper or periodical, a public speech, a press release, or otherwise, shall knowingly and with intent to affect the outcome of such campaign do any of the following:(1) Falsely identify the source of a statement, issue statements under the name of another person without authorization, or falsely state the endorsement of or opposition to a ballot proposition or issue by a person or publication;(2) Post, publish, circulate, distribute, or otherwise disseminate, a false statement, either knowing the same to be false or acting with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not, that is designed to promote the adoption or defeat of any ballot proposition or issue.Effective Date: 08-24-1995

Anonymous

so I posted this a bunch of times over at the facebook Building A Better Ohio page and they removed it within minutes…I guess the truth hurts. One of my posts slipped through, they may find it eventually and nullify it, in typical fashion.

Anonymous

The truth WOULD hurt, if those BBO jackasses were able to recognize it. King Johnnie, Jason Mauk, and the rest of the morally bankrupt cabal wouldn’t recognize the truth if it bit them in the ass.

How can you tell and Ohio Republican is lying? His or her lips are moving.

WestParkGuy

WEWS pulled the ad “because it was a distraction”

I guess having your Facebook wall covered with messages of people boycotting your station and advertisers would be a considered a “distraction”

Anonymous

Being against the law never stopped the GOPers before. The law is for the little
people.

eraser1998

People would have to be stupid to not see through Mauk’s claims. Did anyone “squeal” at any of their other misleading ads? No. We didn’t like them, but they ran without problem. What was the difference this time? Pretty obvious, no?

Now he says they’ve pulled it while they negotiate with stations to put it back up. I guess we’ll see who will sell their souls later…

Anonymous

Thanks for posting that. I was cut n pasting that all over facebook last night.

Anonymous

Well, WEWS may have pulled the ‘distracting’ ad, but I’m not going to put Grey’s Anatomy and Pan Am back on my DVR list.

I’ll catch those shows on Hulu from now on, except when I’m traveling out of state.

Anonymous

Well, I won’t be watching the ‘distracting’ WEWS any time soon. I don’t think I’ll add ABC primetime shows back on my DVR schedule. I’d rather be distracted by Hulu. 😉

Anonymous

thanks for finding it and mentioning it earlier on another forum. I pasted it all over their site and they almost immediately removed them all. Just like when you bring up the Koch brothers subsidiary doing business with Iran. They get really mad and frustrated, unsure who to blame since they were duped.

Anonymous

I thought these bozos loved the free market. Guess not when the free market turns against them.

They are liars and evil. Freedom of speech does not ensure freedom to lie or steal.

Looks like they haven’t had an original idea during my lifetime.

Nothing to see here, move along.

NO ON 2!

Anonymous

I thought these bozos loved the free market. Guess not when the free market turns against them.

They are liars and evil. Freedom of speech does not ensure freedom to lie or steal.

In the Cincinnati area not 45 minnutes ago I saw the ad run. One after the other!
I believe it was channel 12
yet on channel 19 (fox station ) they interviewed her on the 10 oclock news–shes a sweet thing — is mad of course asking for an apology– she will never get. channel 19 said their legal people said to pull the ad.
If this was the other way –the people that did this would be locked up!!
BUT the question is –Do the supporters for passage of Issue 2 really care that they violated a persons rights– No they dont care … peoples rights are disappearing everyday and no one seems to notice.

Fotogirlcb2002

thx for looking this up– sorta shows just how things are BUT do you see anyone enforcing this ? no … they argue 1st amendment . Well they knowingly mis-represented her — reckless disregard isnt it …………

Vote NO on Issue 2 — and Issue 1 —

Anonymous

Because their ideology is that money is more important than people. If people knew that they wouldn’t win. That is why they have to lie and lie really big.

Anonymous

They have been lying for so long that I am dubious. They don’t get punished but we do for not voting.

Dmoore2222

This whole thing could end up being the deal breaker. Republicans are known for tactics like this that end up blowing up in their collective ugly face because they have to tell one lie after another to try to escape. Remember John McCain suspending his campain over the financial crisis?He never recovered from that carnival act. Everyone saw right through it. How about Scott Walker having a midnight vote over the Wisconsin version of SB5. It ended up costing his party two senate seats. These are bottom feeders who expect everyone else to get down in the gutter with them. People are sick of this crap as evidenced by the Occupy Wall Street protestors. I still think Kasich is going to end up having to account for his Lehman Bros. travesty. Now that be fun.